IFA President Eddie Downey has welcomed today's announcement by the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney of the opening of the Dairy Equipment Scheme as part of TAMS II. He said it will be an important element of the investment needed on dairy farms in the years ahead.

However, he added it was important to now get all the other programmes under TAMS II "up and running".

The IFA has also called for items of grant aid that are not currently eligible under the TAMS II schemes to be included, such as sheep fencing, silage slabs and walls, grain storage, underpasses and farm roadways, and slurry and litter storage for grain farms.

Other issues were raised including costings and steel standard.

The organisation also expressed concerns over the end of August deadline for TAMS I, with IFA Rural Development Chairman Flor McCarthy saying it is "too restrictive and will have to be extended".